Hawke's Bay Times. MONDAY, APRIL 13, 1868. DE-CENTRALIZATION OF GOVERNMENT

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 568, 13 April 1868, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times.

MONDAY, APRIL 13, 1868. DE-CENTRALIZATION OF GOVERNMENT

Nidlitu addlctua jurare in veria magislri.

A further development of centraliza- , tion will not, we are convinced, solve the problem of good government for New Zealand; that is the direction which, hitherto, all changes and mo-1 difications of our constitution have! taken, and always to the detriment ofj! the system. Even the act which ad-i mitted the formation of new provinces, paradoxical as it may seem, was but one of the many blows aimed by the ' centralists at,the power of the people, ; and the subsequent repeal of that act , did but confirm the advantages already acquired by the centralist party over the more popular one. Step by step the centralists have advanced, until the complete overthrow of provincial governments has been treated of as at hand in almost the whole of the colonial press, and only a few of the most outspoken amongst the public journals have bad the courage to dejfend and maintain provincialism in the | face of the encroachments of the centralist party. We have never said that the provincial system was perfection. We know well enough that every one of the provincial governments have abused the powers they hold to the exercise of oppression on the one hand, and favoritism on the other; but we hold that this is owing to the fact that the element of centralism enters too decidedly into their constitution, Every one of tbeqi is a central government on a smaller scale, and the gigantic evils of the one are mirrored in the many, until what with the great centre at Wellington, and the smaller ones in the provincial cities, the lifeblood of the colony is withdrawn from the extremities and concentrated about these centres, to the detriment of the whole social system. The remedy must be sought in the de-centralization both of the general and the provincial systems, the curtailment of the powers of both, and the localization of such powers amongst the outlying settlers. It is not the abolition of provincial governments, but the reform of the whole system that is needed for the ! welfare of the community. A calm consideration of the subject will, we are convinced, show the necessity of this. There are local interests that can be only efficiently dealt with by those immediately concerned, and these require local boards. There are other matters conceruiug several of such districts in common, but more or less conflicting with purely local interests, of too great importance to be dealt with by such boards, but not requiring the interierence of a general

govtii'iiuicut —>iGi tSicss tbs present provincial governments form an admirable controlling power. There are still other matters which are of colonial interest, and which can only be dealt with by a general government, jand to which matters its operation jshould be strictly confined. Such a system would, we insist, provide for the good and efficient government of the Colony, it would be comparajtivelr inexpensive and eminently sat'isfactory, as it would confer the boon-

of real self-government upon the people, and remedy the evils of the present expensive system of centralization. Such a scheme as we have endeavored to in.dic3.ts Ibsnrs no 3H3l r . that mockery which was offered to the Colony by the Ministry, under the name of a “ Local Government Bill,” but which was intended to destroy the provincial governments, and strengthen the central by gathering all power to itself. It would make self-govern-ment a reality by placing the control of all matters in the immediate power of- those concerned, whether they be local, provincial, or colonial.